The tiger swallowtail starts its life as an egg. At hatching, the larva emerges from the egg and eats the shell to get nourishment for the start of its life as a caterpillar. The caterpillar then starts eating the leaves of trees such as the tulip poplar, ash, birch, lilac, cherry and some others. It takes one month for the tiger swallowtail to develop from egg into an adult. Adults feed only on nectar, and prefer flowers such as phlox, Hesperis, milkweed and others. They are most attracted to flowers that are pink in color.
The tiger swallowtail has many means of defense. One is that the young caterpillar is camouflaged to look like bird droppings. As the caterpillar gets older it develops eyespots that make it look similar to a snake. Another way is that some female tiger swallowtails resemble Pipevine swallowtails with its blue and black colors. The Pipevine swallowtail is poisonous and the tiger swallowtail is not. Therefore, when an animal sees the female tiger swallowtail it thinks that it is a Pipevine swallowtail and will not eat it.
The tiger swallowtail lives in woodlands and open grasslands, but is also found in cities. It occurs throughout the Eastern United States and Canada.
Aaron Wood, Garrett Howard, and Ashli Young
Entomology 301 - Fall 2000
